Brake-beam support



T. L. BURTON.

BRAKE BEAM SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. H,

Patented May 11, 1920.

'FIGJBT INVENTOPgWL' THOMAS L, BURTON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BRAKE-BEAM SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1920.

Application filed September 11, 1918. Serial No. 253,530.

To all whom'z't may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS L. BURTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Brake-Beam Supports,

of which improvement the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for supporting the brake beams of railway trucks and more particularly to the type of support known as the third point suspension 1n which there is employed, in addition to the usual hangers at the opposite ends of the brake beam, one or more supports for a portion of the brake beam, such as the fulcrum post, or strut, or truss rod, for the purpose of maintaining the brake beam substantially level and parallel in its various positions and under different conditions of wear of the brake shoes and Wheels.

It has been proposed to provide one or more safety bars attached to the spring plank of the truck and extending beneath the brake beam for carrying this additional support for the strut member of the beam, and one of the objects of my present invention is to provide an improved support of this character in which the additional point or points is or are carried by a rockmg member pivotally attached at the upper end to the strut or truss rod of the brake beam and adapted to engage the safety bar by a rocking or rolling movement.

Another feature of my invention com-' prises an improved attachment for supporting the safety bar from the spring lank.

In the accompanying drawings, *igure 1 is a side elevation, with parts in section, of one form of brake beam suspension embodying my improvement; Fig. 2, an end view and Figs. 3 and 4, detail views showing modifications; Figs. 5 and 6, side and end views, respectively, showing another form of bracket and safety bar; Fig. -7, a slde elevation showing another form of support; Fig. 8, an end view of the same; Fig. 9, a view of the safety bar detached and turned at an angle; Fig. 10, a transverse section ,of the safety bar and bracket;-Fig.

" 11, a plan of the safety. bancarr ing the filling pieces for the brackets; F 1g. 12, a similar plan showing a modification; Fig.

13, a side elevation showing another moat:

fication; Fig. 14, a plan of the supporting bracket and safety bar detached; Fig. 15,

a plan of the safety bar and filling blocks showing a modification; Fig. 16, a transverse section of said safety bar and supporting bracket, and Figs. 17 and 18, transverse and longitudinal sections, respectively, of a" modified form of supportingbracket.

The brake beams may be of the usual trussed type having a main compression member, a strut 20, and a truss rod 22, with the ordinary brake shoes 23, hangers 24 and brake lever 21. According to one of the features of my improvement, a third or fourth point support is formed of av rocker 27 pivotally attached to a portiongof the brake beam, such as the strut or truss rod, and mounted on the safety bar 25, so as to engage the same by a rocking or rolling movement as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1', 2,

3 and 4, the rocker 27 is pivoted tothe end of the strut 20, of the brake beam and k is provided at its lower end with a rocking c 7 surface, bearing upon the fiat surface at the I end of the safety bar.. In order to limit the range of movement of the rocker on its pivot, stops such as 37, and 38, may be employed, adapted to abut against a fixed portion of the strut and the truss rod respectively, as shown in Fig. 3.

To prevent any tending of the rocker to slip or slide along the surface of the safety bar, projections may be provided upon one part or the other as indicated at 39, in Fig. 1, and at 40, in Fig. 4.

Another feature of my improvement re-.

lates to means for supporting and locking against longitudinalmovement a safety; bar of non-circular section, such as a rectangular bar, and comprises a bracket attached to the spring plank and having a circular opening together with filling blocks attached to the sides of the safety bar and forming a cylindrical bearing therefor.

within the opening of the supporting bracket, there being a pin and slot connection, between these parts and operated by a partial rotation of the bar to lock the same against longitudinal movement.

In the construction shown inFi'gs. 7 to' the pin enters the groove and then turned part way around until the bar is vertical,

thereby locking the same against longitudinal movement relative to the bracket. The groove 33 may be either open as indicated in Fig. 16,or closed as shown in Figs. 17

and 18.

The supporting link may be' pivotally connected at the end of the bar 25, as indicated at 27, in Figs. 7, 8 and 13, or it may be mounted to rock on thebar as shown at 27 in Fig. 1. I

In Figs. 5 and 6, the safety bar is shown in form of an I beam supported in rigid hangers from the springplank.

The filling blocks 30 may be fastened to the safety bar either by bolts'as indicated in Figs. 11 and 15, or by rivets as shown in Fig. 12.

In the form of the device shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the curved rocking surface of the rocker 27 is not concentric with the pivoted point of the rocker upon' the brake beam but is so formed that, as the beam swings from its release position toward the wheels in applying the brakes, the rocker, in rolling upon the surface ofthe safety bar, raises its upper pivot point on the brake beam at'about the same rate that the brake shoes are elevated by the usual movement of the ordinary hangers 24;, thereby maintaining the brake beam substantially level and the brake shoes practically concentric with the wheels in the various positions of the brake beam. 1

Having now described my invention what I claim as new'and' desire .to secure by Let-.

ters Patent is:

1. In a brake beamsuspension, the combination of a supporting bracket having a circular opening, asafety bar extending through the bracket and beneath the brake beam, a sectional filling block mounted onsaid bar within the opening in the bracket, and a pin and slot connection for locking the filling block within the bracket by a partial rotary movement. V

2. In a brake beam suspension, the com bination of a supporting bracket having a circular opening, a safety bar extending through the bracket and beneath the brake beam, filling blocks forming a circular section -mounted on said bar within the opening'in. the bracket, a pin and slot connection for locking the circular section within the bracket by a partial rotary movement, and an additional supporting member mounted on said bar and connected to a portion of the brake beam..

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

THOMAS L. BURTON. 

